Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said, “The government of Pakistan is itself taking a decisive action against terrorism and terrorist elements and therefore believes that these strikes are unnecessary and should be stopped.”

Figures released by the BIJ also showed that only 84 people out of the 2,379 killed in US drone strikes in Pakistan since June 2004 were identified as al-Qaeda militants.

These figures are in clear contradiction with claims made by US Secretary of State John Kerry last May when he said, “The only people we fire at are confirmed terror targets, at the highest level. We don’t just fire a drone at somebody we think is a terrorist.”

The US claims its drone attacks target militants, but local officials and witnesses maintain that civilians have been the main victims of the attacks over the past few years.